Matt Buchanan, Author at Gizmodo

Best Way to Read NYT for Free Starts Slamming Your Wallet March 27

If you’ve paid attention to my sources for posts, you’d probably notice I’m fairly heavy on the NYT—I more or less read it every day, usually with the NYT Reader. Up until March 27, on top of being the best way to read it, it’s also been a free way to do so. While $15…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

New Video Watermark Tech Traces Bootlegs Back to Pirates

Future set-top boxes and gateways from Thomson SA are going to come with video watermarking tech that will allow investigators to pinpoint the origin of pirated videos. The tech, NexGuard, identifies “individual copies of the films distributed digitally to cinemas or on DVD as preview copies for reviewers and awards juries.” Before video content leaves…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Don’t Feel Like Activating Vista? It’s Cool, Take As Long As You Like

With a simple registry tweak, you can take that 30-day activation deadline and shove it—possibly forever. According to Brian Livingston, publisher of Windows Secrets, the activation delay hack previously thought to work for 120 days can be reused “indefinitely,” though it varies from copy to copy. The haxx0ring? Change a registry key (SkipRearm) hex value.…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

NPR Says F$%! the RIAA, Albeit in an Erudite, Strongly Worded Letter After Some Tea

NPR isn’t taking too kindly to the Sound Exchange-drafted royalty rate hike for internet radio stations. The burn? The new rates are “at least 20 times more than what stations have paid in the past” and treats public radio “as if [it] were commercial radio,” though it’s unable to bring in extra revenue to meet…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Pray You’re Not on “The List”: Sylar Coming to Your Cell Phone On Demand

NBC Universal is teaming up with MobiTV to bring its TV shows to the small(er) screen: Full-length episodes of “Heroes,” “The Office,” “Monk,” and “Battlestar Galactica” will be available over the air on demand for $1.99 (awesome) but currently only for “a 24-hour viewing period” (not awesome). Also part of the announced deal are several…

Television Matt Buchanan

RIAA Tires of Suing Babies and Elderly; Moves on to Paralyzed Stroke Victims

John Paladuk, a retired railroad employee whose left side was completely paralyzed by a stroke last year and uses the resulting disability check as his sole means of income, is being sued by the RIAA for copyright infringement. Also, he lived in Florida during the time period the RIAA is accusing him of engaging in…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

NYT Trendspotting: Everyone’s Copying the Apple Store

Leaping from the introduction of the new AT&T Experience store (pictured anticlimactically above), which aims to shove all of the services offered by the hydra company in your face within the confines of a single space (the AT&T experience, no doubt), to Verizon’s own innovatively named Verizon Experience store, which coincidentally pushes every Verizon product…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Uncle Sam Starts Subsidizing Antique TVs Jan. 1

Uncle Sam is handing out up to $80 a household to go toward the signal conversion boxes your grandparents need to keep watching Heroes on their clunky analog TV after the move to all-digital broadcasting in Feb. 2009. Each coupon is worth $40, while the converters run about $50 a pop. If they have more…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Forbes Analyst: 10 Million iPhones? Good Luck

Taesik Yoon, an analyst over at Forbes, rolls off why investors shouldn’t gleefully pump money into Apple stock betting on the iPhone to return their investment in gold bullion. A lot of it’s familiar—high price point, ill fit with the smart phone market despite its potential growth—but some of it’s a bit newish. https://gizmodo.com/analyst-apple-will-release-flash-based-subnotebook-fl-243105 For…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

What You’ve All Been Waiting For: USB Humping Dog Finally Does More Than Just Hump

That’s right, a reader over at Digital World Tokyo has put together a guide on retro-fitting your favorite hypersexually active dog peripheral with some actual memory. Better yet, part of the mod is that the dog only humps when it’s accessing data. While DWT characterizes the guide as “quick,” be warned that you need some…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Low Tech but Highly Delicious: Gummy Bear Chandelier

Part of an entire series of gummy bear sculptures by YaYa Chou, this chandelier looks both tasty and retro-chic. But we can’t help but wonder how long it will hold up. It seems like only a matter of time before it’s either devoured in a nostalgic munchie fit or melted by the light bulbs into…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Slate: Blackberries and iPods Sending Timex the Way of Betamax

Slate’s Moneybox columnist, Daniel Gross, details a sinking trend in the sales of mid-range watches—ones actually meant to tell time—and chalks this up to the fact that “most people these days carry a highly accurate and durable time piece, but it isn’t a watch.” It’s an iPod, a cell phone, whatever. Sales of watches under…

Gadgets Matt Buchanan

Intarwebs Invading American DSes via Opera on June 4

That’s right, months after being available in both Europe and Japan, Opera for the DS finally arrives stateside June 4th. Woohoo? It’s not exactly an optimal way to go online, but in a pinch, it sort of gets the job done. http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/opera/opera-ds-cant-render-kotaku-otherwise-okay-189306.php Granted, there are only about a million other ways to go online on…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Slate Explains How to Make Your Cell Phone Jack Bauer-Worthy

Coming off a story about a Wal-Mart employee intercepting conversations and text messages between Wal-Mart PR and a NYT reporter, Slate takes it upon itself to teach you how to do just that with your own dinky cell phone. First on the list, predictably, is copying the interceptee’s SIM card, sending all of their phone…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Totally Unbiased National Association of Broadcasters Ad Slams SiriusXM

The National Association of Broadcasters is such a great consumer organization. They’re totally looking out for consumers by warning us about this impending Sirius/XM satellite radio monopoly. I mean, it’s not like the National Association of Broadcasters has any interest at all in the upcoming merger, so what reason do they have to be opposed…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Microsoft: Google Poops on Copyright

In a speech made yesterday to the American Association of Publishers, associate general counsel for Microsoft, Tom Rubin, called out Google (and its Book Search) for not respecting copyright. Alleging that “Google’s track record of protecting copyrights in other parts of its business is weak at best,” he asserted Microsoft’s Live Search (Books) does protect…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Intel and Department of Transportation Avoid Vista Like the Plague

Confirming what everyone pretty much already knew—that Vista upgrades are going to be slow coming—Intel CEO Paul Otellini told attendees at the Bank of America Technology conference that he knew “of no organization doing an upgrade before SP1,” adding that “Intel isn’t upgrading either (until SP1).” https://gizmodo.com/media-watch-bogus-trendspotting-from-the-nyt-on-vista-233876 The U.S. Department of Transportation and FAA are…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Yet Another Reason to Boycott the RIAA

The Copyright Royalty Board has decided to accept the “per play” royalty rates proposed for internet radio channels by the RIAA’s digital music extortion fee collection organization, Sound Exchange, despite protests by webcasters. “Per performance” rates are charged per stream per listener. The example the Radio and Internet Newsletter gives is that an “audience of…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

“Most Beautiful Object in South Africa” A Condom Applicator?

Designed to help fight the spread of AIDS by encouraging the correct and speedy application of condoms without tears or snags, this lifeguard-looking device, dubbed “Pronto,” was named South Africa’s “Most Beautiful Object” by Dutch designer Jurgen Bey. I don’t know who that is, or care really, but it’s a thoughtful, if simple, gadget that…

Tech News Matt Buchanan

Keep Your Eyes on Your Junk, Gentlemen (and Ladies)

This video shows why you should keep your eyes on your junk while Uncle Sam’s got his eye on your other junk during airport security screenings. The scam’s not exactly a new one, as I’ve always waited until the last possible second to send my stuff through the scanner, wary of just such a ploy.…

Privacy & Security Matt Buchanan

Matt Buchanan

Best Way to Read NYT for Free Starts Slamming Your Wallet March 27

New Video Watermark Tech Traces Bootlegs Back to Pirates

Don’t Feel Like Activating Vista? It’s Cool, Take As Long As You Like

NPR Says F$%! the RIAA, Albeit in an Erudite, Strongly Worded Letter After Some Tea

Pray You’re Not on “The List”: Sylar Coming to Your Cell Phone On Demand

RIAA Tires of Suing Babies and Elderly; Moves on to Paralyzed Stroke Victims

NYT Trendspotting: Everyone’s Copying the Apple Store

Uncle Sam Starts Subsidizing Antique TVs Jan. 1

Forbes Analyst: 10 Million iPhones? Good Luck

What You’ve All Been Waiting For: USB Humping Dog Finally Does More Than Just Hump

Low Tech but Highly Delicious: Gummy Bear Chandelier

Slate: Blackberries and iPods Sending Timex the Way of Betamax

Intarwebs Invading American DSes via Opera on June 4

Slate Explains How to Make Your Cell Phone Jack Bauer-Worthy

Totally Unbiased National Association of Broadcasters Ad Slams SiriusXM

Microsoft: Google Poops on Copyright

Intel and Department of Transportation Avoid Vista Like the Plague

Yet Another Reason to Boycott the RIAA

“Most Beautiful Object in South Africa” A Condom Applicator?

Keep Your Eyes on Your Junk, Gentlemen (and Ladies)

No More Cheese Grater: The Mac Pro Is Discontinued

Even the ‘Avatar’ Fighting Game Is Disrespecting ‘Legend of Korra’

Bluesky Has a New App, and It’s All About AI

Dammit, Jim, He’s a Doctor *And* an Action Figure!

Whatever Just Happened with ‘Fruit Love Island,’ Nobody Won

AMC Puts a Stake in ‘Talamasca’ After One Season

Aqara Smart Lock U400 Review: Hands-free Unlocking at Its Best

2027 Is Shaping Up to Be a Great Year for Big Sci-Fi RPGs

MSI Prestige 14 Flip AI+ Review: A Solid 2-in-1 Laptop With Some Glaring Flaws

Ahead of the SpaceX IPO, xAI Has Now Shed All 11 of Its Non-Elon Musk Founders

Sonos Play Review: Call It a Comeback

Sonos Era 100 SL Review: The Cheapest Way Into Wired Sonos Sound

Asus ROG’s Massive Swift OLED Gaming Monitor Epitomizes Excess in the Best Way

The Ikea Varmblixt Smart Lamp Fills a Donut Hole in My Life

Nothing Headphone A vs. Headphone 1: Which Pair of ANC Wireless Headphones Wins?

Asus ROG’s Cetra Open Wireless Gaming Earbuds Might Be Better Than Wearing a Headset

Nintendo’s Talking Flower Is Annoying as Hell. I Love It

Level Lock Pro Review: As Good as a Secret Smart Lock Gets

Apple Studio Display XDR Review: It Looks So Good, I Wish It Were an iMac

RayNeo Air 4 Pro Review: My Eyes Love These Video Glasses, but My Nose Disagrees

Dammit, Jim, He’s a Doctor And an Action Figure!